"The
so-called random shooting at the Montana borders is actually
eliminating or depleting entire maternal lineages, therefore
this action will cause an irreversible crippling of the gene
pool. Continued removal of genetic lineages will change the
genetic makeup of the herd, thus it will not represent the animal
of 1910 or earlier. It would be a travesty to have people look
back and say we were 'idiots' for not understanding the gene
pool."

"Bison have developed a natural resistance genetically
as long as they have enough to eat, limited stress and are not
consumed by other disease. There is no magic bullet in wildlife
disease, therefore management is important. Vaccines are one
management tool and one component, but genetic structure is
necessary for future management. Every animal which is removed
from the breeding population can no longer contribute to the
genetic variability of the herd."

The
Yellowstone bison population currently exists as an isolated
"metapopulation." This is what population geneticists
call a large population which consists of several smaller
groups called "subpopulations" which interact
with each other to some degree. Each subpopulation within
the metapopulation can have itís own distinctive
genetic structure which distinguishes it from the others.
If individuals remain in their own respective subpopulation
and do not mate with outside individuals, certain genes
within the subpopulation become fixed. In other words there
is a loss of alternative genes through random mating and
selection. This eventually leads to a loss of genetic variation
in the subpopulation. If there is migration and mating of
individuals at a moderate rate between the subpopulations,
then genetic variation can be maintained throughout the
entire metapopulation.
Genetic variation is critical to the long term survival
and evolutionary potential for any species or population.
It can become decreased through isolation, inbreeding, and
strong selective pressures such as environmental changes,
diseases, or extensive mortality. Loss of genetic variabilty
removes genes from the population that could enable certain
individuals to survive a major event, reproduce, and pass
on their genetic material to the next generation. Low genetic
variability within an individual or population greatly reduces
the ability to respond to a major disease event or adapt
to changing environmental conditions. Ultimately this will
drive them into an extinction vortex from which they might
not recover. This has already occurred in many species who
have disappeared from the globe.

The current "clear cut" style of removing bison
from the Gardiner area poses a grave risk to the genetic
integrity of the entire Yellowstone bison herd for a number
of reasons. The really tragic part of this is that the subpopulation
(northern herd) was nearly wiped out in 96/97. The current
herd probably consists of remnant individuals and migrants
from other adjacent subpopulations. Removal of a large number
of individuals from only one subpopulation within a single
region poses the risk of permanent loss of entire lineages,
which could be irreplaceable.

If population control were truly necessary, then perhaps
a scattered, random removal of individuals would be more
conducive to maintaining genetic diversity. However, the
carrying capacity for bison in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem
has not been accurately established.

Therefore the current population cap of 3000 is rather arbitrary
and not representative of what the ecosystem can actually
support. If the efficiency of bison grazing patterns and
their remarkable ability to extract the most nutrition from
the lowest quality forage is considered in conjunction with
potential availability of public lands, this number should
be much higher.

The cumulative effects of yearly removals of entire large
groups of bison within an isolated population will certainly
result in a steady erosion of the genetic integrity within
this herd. This would be a national tragedy and will ultimately
result in the demise of this valuable herd!

We must urge our public officials to discontinue the slaughter
of Yellowstoneís bison in this manner. We cannot
allow another repeat of the winter nightmare of 1996/97.
It is key to the survival of this herd for future generations
that this current removal operation is immediately put to
an end. Prevention of any further herd reductions will ultimately
contribute to the conservation of this herd and augment
global biodiversity.

Genetically,
Bison Don't Measure Up to Frontier Ancestors- April
2002 By MARK DERR (NYT) ABSTRACT - Genetic study led by
Texas A&M geneticist Dr James Derr finds that more than
90 percent of private bison and many animals in publicly
owned herds are actually bison-cow hybrids; finding reduces
pool of pure bison available for preserving species to fewer
than 15,000 animals (Word Document,
4 pages)